d good,
And people called him Robin Hood;
Such archers as he and his men
Will England never see again."

Another ballad relates the prowess of William of Cloudslee, who
scorned to shoot at an ordinary target, and cutting a hazel rod
from a tree, he shot at it from twenty score paces, cleaving the rod
in two.

[Illustration: CROSS-BOW SHOOTING AT THE BUTTS (from MS. dated 1496).]

[Illustration: AN ARCHER.]

Like William Tell of great renown, our English archer could split an
apple placed on his son's head at the distance of six score paces.

In time of war the archers were armed with a body-armour, the arms
being left free. They had a long bow made of yew, a sheaf of arrows
winged with gray goose-feathers, a sword, and small shield. Such was
the appearance of the men who struck such terror among the knights
and chivalry of France, and won many victories for England before
the days of muskets and rifles.

We are now in the season of Lent, and our towns and villages were
very still and quiet during these weeks. But there was an old custom
on Refreshment[7] or Mid-Lent Sunday for people to visit their
mother-church and make offerings on the altar. Hence probably arose
the practice of "mothering," or going to visit parents on that day,
and taking presents to them. Herrick alludes to this pleasant custom
in the following lines--

"I'll to thee a simnell bring,
'Gainst thou go'st a mothering;
So that when she blesseth thee,
Half that blessing thou'lt give me."

Many a mother's heart would rejoice to welcome to the old village
home once again some fond youth or maiden who had gone to seek their
fortunes in the town, and many happy recollections would long linger
of "Mothering" Sunday. The cakes alluded to in the above verse,
which children presented to their parents on these occasions, were
called Simnells. In some parts of England--in Lancashire,
Shropshire, and Herefordshire--these cakes are still eaten on
Mid-Lent Sunday. Possibly they had some religious signification, for
the Saxons were in habit of eating consecrated cakes at their
festivals. The name Simnell is derived from a Latin word signifying
fine flour, and not from the mythical persons, Simon and Nell, who
are popularly supposed to have invented the cake. Hot cross buns are
a relic of an ancient rite of the Saxons, who ate cakes in honour of
the goddess of spring, and the early Christian missionaries strove
to banish